Thursday, February 10, 2011

Another airport beer

Are you travelling to Oslo by airplane, you will in most cases travel to Oslo airport at Gardermoen. The airport, which opened in 1998, is situated about 50 kilometres north of Oslo. The airport is the biggest airport in Norway and it is built with a single terminal.

Oslo has several times been called the world's most expensive city, like in this newspaper story. If you feel the Norwegian capital is expensive, prices at Gardermoen are even higher. The restaurants and bars at the airport have prices that the national tourist agency should be ashamed of. It is no fun for a foreigner visiting Norway being quoted a price of about 160 NOK for a hamburger with fries or 100 NOK for a roll with prawns and Norwegian caviar, for instance.

Beerwise the airport is a boring place. The Monolitten restaurant is a good example. Only two draught beers are available, and you can choose between Carlsberg or the local Ringnes pale lager. The Carlsberg beer is probably brewed on licence by Ringnes, but the waiter did not know for sure.

I had a 0.4 litre of Carlsberg at Monolitten. It was priced at 66 NOK or nearly 7 GBP. The pale lager had a small head and some carbonation. I felt malts and grains in the nose, while it had a malty taste before a bitter finish. This beer was first of all a thirst quencher. I prefer other lager beers to it.

If I were a tourist to Norway sitting down at Monolitten, I would wonder why this restaurant at Norway's national airport only serves pale lagers. A place like this could be a great showcase of Norwegian craft beers. The restaurant has its name from one of Norway's most known statues, the Monolith by Gustav Vigeland. It should also show some of the better aspects of Norwegian drinking cultures. This piece of advice is for free: How about a little viking hut with draught beers from Ægir, for instance?